Floyd can gain from Sox' rotation rivalry

Jake Peavy has been more than gracious in letting everyone know that this is Mark Buehrle's staff.

But don't kid yourself, because Peavy's been the best pitcher on his team since he was 10 years old and doesn't intend to have anyone think anything different this year on the South Side.

That has added a little spice to Buehrle's off-season workout regime, and John Danks - who's as gritty as any of them - is already talking about keeping up with the aces.

"You know who's going to get the most out of this? It's Gavin Floyd," said manager Ozzie Guillen at SoxFest. "Those guys all want to be the best guy on the team, and I saw this in Atlanta. They don't want to let up after what the other guy did yesterday. It makes them better.

"They want to beat each other, not just the other team. You don't think Peavy wants to show everyone here he's the best? Buehrle gonna watch that happen? No. Danks won't.

"Gavin Floyd won't want to get left behind, and when he sees what that's like, I think he'll get more serious, too."

White Sox GM Ken Williams even took a little good-natured poke at Buehrle when explaining Peavy's value.

"I really wanted Danks and Floyd to see what a No. 1 starter looks like," Williams said. "Buehrle's been a No. 1 for a long time, but he's got that fun-loving nature. Peavy is really serious about his business, and there's a lot you can learn from that."

Danks says he already learned from watching Peavy in September.

"The amazing thing about a guy like Peavy is he goes out there for 7 or 8 innings every time and gives the team a chance to win every time, even if he's not 100 percent," Danks said. "You never stop learning in this game and there's a lot to learn from these guys.

"It's no secret Buehrle has really helped me since I got here, not so much with how to pitch, but with how to win."

That doesn't mean, however, that Danks intends to take a back seat to the top of the rotation.

"We don't feel like there's a big drop-off from Jake and Mark to the rest of us at 3-4-5," Danks said. "We know we have a chance to have something special with this rotation and we think there could be a lot of aces on this staff."

Pitching richCall it the typical festive talk that arrives with the annual January optimism - when everyone's healthy and everyone's happy - but 33-year-old Freddy Garcia does look like he's in better shape than when he won a World Series with the Sox five years ago."The way he pitched at the end of the year would be good for us," Ken Williams said. "But I think he's going to be better with more velocity."In the final month of the season, Garcia - more than two years removed from surgery - went 3-2 in 6 starts with a 3.66 ERA and 24 strikeouts against 7 walks, while averaging 6.2 innings per start."He's slotted at No. 5 in the rotation, but this is a man with a lot of pride and he doesn't think of himself as a No. 5," Williams said. "I guarantee you he's going to go out there with something to prove."A little chatterOzzie Guillen wants to see more life in his infield this year, and he's let shortstop Alexei Ramirez and second baseman Gordon Beckham know it."I told them they need to be our leaders in the infield. It was too quiet last year," Guillen said. "I want to hear them talking and keeping everyone awake out there."I told Alexei if he can't speak English, then he needs to learn it."Guillen also is fed up with Ramirez's slow starts."I don't know if it's because it's cold or what it is, but we can't have it," Guillen said. "Then, last year he takes his bat out into the field with him and is making mistakes."I told him I don't want to see that again, either. After May, I think he was one of the better shortstops in the league."He will be better this year. Maybe top three in the American League."Starting overLike Freddy Garcia, 32-year-old Andruw Jones wants to revive his career with the Sox."He wanted to be here and he pursued us," Ken Williams said. "He was willing to come here in a backup role for not much money ($500,000) because he likes the situation and wants to have a good year and revamp his career."He's still a young man. He could do a great job here for us and get his career started again. We like having hungry guys like that around here."The quoteKen Williams: "I intend to win this year, and I need a healthy and fit Bobby Jenks on my team to win."And finallyOzzie Guillen on his World Series infield with Tadahito Iguchi and Juan Uribe: "You should have heard the conversations on the mound. We never knew what they were saying. Iguchi doesn't speak any English, and Uribe doesn't speak anything anyone can understand."